SAO: Nephilim
by Eleraan
Summary: Set during the time after the Moonlight Black Cats have been wiped out when Kiritio would have been most likely MIA for boss fights a new small guild is recruited to the front lines. All OC cast with only small roles played by the original cast. This was a request from a friend, but hopefully anyone else reading will enjoy.
1. Chapter 1

**See bottom for AN and replies.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online.** **Reki Kawahara does!**

Asuna tapped her foot impatiently before glancing towards the setting sun again. _Their late, this is not a good sign. _Sighing she scanned the road leading back to the nearest village hoping to spot the ones she was supposed to meet. The front lines had always been sparsely manned and since the huge losses clearing the twenty fifth floor it had only gotten worse. So, when a small unknown guildhad asked to join in on the upcoming thirtieth floor boss fight they had been reluctant to turn them away. In the end Asuna had been asked to give them a test before determining if they could or could not join the boss fight.

Glancing back down the road she spotted two approaching figures, one she easily recognized as the guild leader. A giant man able to match even Agil in size he had been an impressive figure at their last meeting even wearing his plain unadorned heavy plate. The other person though was easily a match for them in sizewearing heavy plate also and as the two came to a stop right before her she couldn't help but feel a tiny bit intimidated by them despite their friendly smiles.

Feeling angry at herself for that very reason she pointed her finger at the towering guild leader before he could speak "You're late!"

Blinking the two glanced at one another their smiles disappearing into a frown before glancing towards the setting sun. "Sorry about that, he forgot to repair before we headed out and had to turn around." He gestured to his companion before continuing. "Were only late by a minute or two. Besides he told you we were going to be a little late didn't he?"

Frowning "He who?" She questioned.

Groaning he covered his face with one hand and mumbled something that Asuna thought sounded like "Anti-social sonfa…." Before he glanced around them and yelled out "Alright quit lurking around and get out here."

Asuna gave a tiny jump as someone appeared from practically her own shadow. "You don't have to yell, I'm right here." The newest arrival was another giant matching the other two in size. _Geez is there a height requirement for this guild._

"I told you to let them know we were going to be a few minutes late." He pointed an accusing finger at the stealthier member of their group.

Shrugging he replied "I was just about to tell them when you came into sight. Figured it was pointless by then."

While the two argued she took the opportunity to look the three over. The guild leader, a man named Rolandox, was wearing the same unadorned heavy plate as before but now a massive tower shield was strapped to his back while a one handed axe hung from his belt. The other plate wearer's armor was as easily identifiable as the former was plain. Sinister black plate with numerous jagged spikes protruding from his right shoulder marked his armor as the twenty fourth floors dungeon set dropped by the mini bosses there. While it was a few levels out dated if it had been enhanced regularly with its set bonus it would be alright for the front lines. Across his back was strapped a massive two handed hammer, the hammer's head was wide and flat on one side while the other half tapered off into a curved spike. One of the surprising things she noticed was neither of them appeared to be Asian, though they spoke Japanese well it held a distinctive American last one who had apparently been here for a considerable time was wearing a heavy black cloak with the hood pulled low hiding his equipment from view, though they shared the same accent.

The argument between them had degenerated into tossing insults back and forth something that she would normally take as a sign that the two men were actually good friends but only seemed to irritate her more at this time. "Alright, enough male bonding. How much longer until the rest of your guild shows up so we can get started?"

Rolandox stopped insulting his guildie and turned to give her a sheepish grin "This is everyone actually. Sorry, let me introduce them." He pointed to the other plate wearer "This is Slevin." Off to the side the cloaked guildmember said "Slacker" while pretending to cough. Ignoring his comment Rolandox pointed to the cloaked member "And this is Eleraan." Slevin in turned said "Broken" while faking his own cough. "And I'm Rolandox the guild leader of the Nephilim." Both Slevin and Eleraan faked another cough while saying "Baldy" in sync. Rolandox reached up to adjust his helmet slightly before continuing. "We appreciate the chance to join the boss fight; it was getting kinda boring just fighting regular monsters."

_Just three? That's not even enough for a full group! Let'sjust get this over with. _She gave another mental sigh before turning to point further down the path to the small clearing where the forestterrain merged into the rocky terrain of the mountain ahead. There moving around were small packs of Undermen a humanoid monster that appeared to be a cross between a man and a mole. Thick leathery gray skin bunched up around their joints as they shuffled around sniffing the air. At the end of their thick arms were massive hands equipped with long black curved claws perfect for digging or dismembering enemies. Despite their appearance they were surprisingly fast and should prove a good starter test for the group. Though if they passed the real test waited.

"First we will need to clear out all the monsters in that area." She motioned to the dozen or so Undermen wandering around in packs of three or four. The three just nodded readying their weapons and Asuna swallowed down the groan that tried to escape her mouth. _A one handed curved blade? _Eleraan had drawn a one handed curved blade from within his cloak. While they were common in the lower levels since the skill was required for the Katana weapon skill. Everyone dropped it as soon as they picked up the Katana skill. Each weapon type in the game had its unique strengths and weaknesses, for the one handed curved blade its strength was that the sword skill delay was reduced as the skill increased until it was basically removed. While that was an incredible up side the down side was two fold, first it was the only weapon type in the game with only single strike attacks. With out the delay timer it was possible to chain together the single strike attacks to be as effective as the multi strike attacks used by other weapon types but this resulted in the second draw back, mental fatigue. While those trapped within SAO didn't have to worry about the normal physical fatigue that would be associated with the extreme fighting a type of mental fatigue would build up, especially when using a lot of sword skills. Because of this once the requirements were met for the Katana skill most players switch to the higher damage multi strike weapon instead.

Asuna watched as Rolandox and Slevin took off towards the clearing leaving Eleraan standing there. Rolandox called out over his shoulder "You can have the ones on the left…After you gather the ones on the right for us."

Eleraan stood watching them charge forward yelled out "Lazy!" The two plate wearers had covered about a quarter of the distance and their last member still hadn't moved. Asuna was about to ask him what he was doing out of annoyance when he leaned forward into a crouch she recognized as the starting pose for one of the most basic single slash charge attacks. He kicked off as the charge activated rocketing forward at a speed the exceeded the games maximum run speed. But instead of coming to a stop when the max distance was covered there was a fraction of a second pause before he kicked off with the same charge attack. As she watched he repeated chaining the charge attacks together to streak forward faster than would normally be possible. As he passed the other two in a blur Slevin yelled out "Broken!"

As he skidded to a stop near the first pack of Undermen his left arm shot out and Asuna recognized the three green streaks of light that short from his hand as throwing spikes. One streak of light struck each of the gathered three mobs causing them to turn towards him only to find him streaking towards another pack. Repeating the same process with the second pack he was soon streaking back towards the other two with six Undermen in tow. As he charged passed Rolandox who had gained a sizeable lead on Slevin the shield user activated his own charge. He slammed into the leading mob pushing it back into the others to end up with them in a half circle around him. Before they could respond he twisted his body to the right and then launched a massive backhand with his shield trailing crimson light.

Shockwave was the name of the shield attack he used, it was a one eighty degree attack that chipped out a sizeable chuck of the mobs health and staggered all six back. Asuna winced at the newbie mistake, while the attack was powerful and did cause all the monsters effected to stagger back preventing attacks for a short time it also came with an incredibly long delay that lasted longer than the stagger. Just as she figured he froze with his shield out wide to the left leaving him completely open as the monsters recovered. Claws raised they were mid attack when Slevin leaped over the frozen Rolandox and landed directly infront of him before swinging his massive hammer in a wide arc knocking the enemies back with a Crescent Smash. The Undermen's health bars took another sudden drop as they staggered back a second time. Just as they recovered Rolandox stepped forward with a perfectly timed Shockwave.

As the two repeated the pattern with their perfectly timed teamwork she watched them steadily work all six mobs health down at the same time with out ever taking a single attack themselves. As the mobs health dropped into the red she remembered the third member of their guild. Glancing around she spotted them standing on the now empty other half of the clearing within a giant cloud of sparkling polygon fragments. Blinking Asuna looked around for the missing mobs refusing to believe a single person could slaughter so many already, considering the other two using their Area of Effect or AOE attack in unison were just now finishing their half off. She looked to the others in time to see Slevin finish off their group in one final Crescent Smash. Looking back over she found the other half of the clearing completely empty.

She was frowning in confusion when Slevin and Rolandox walked up to her. Slevin looked in the same direction as she was before say "Ugh that broken, over powered bastard killed his half first!"

"Actually, there were seven in my pack. So you didn't even do half this time." The voice came from her own shadow making her jump a little.

Rolandox scolded her shadow while Slevin mumbled something that sounded like an insult directed to a certain guild member "Will you stop scaring her. I will remind you that you're the one that wants to join the boss fights the most."

"I wasn't trying to scare her, I was just getting some Hiding skill points while I waited for you two slow pokes to finish." Was his reply as he appeared from within her shadow. _Geez, how high is his Hiding skill. I really need to work on my Searching skill._

"Whatever. So how did we do? Did we pass the test?" Rolandox grinned down at her looking confident. In truth, Asuna was ready to give them the ok right there but didn't want to over inflate their ego. Ones too full of them selves were more likely to make mistakes.

"You three did alright on them, but that wasn't the test." As the sun fully set and darkness washed over the land Asuna's eyes flashed green in hue as her Night Vision passive activated. She was glad to see all three of the others eyes taking on the same green shimmer. In response to the change from day to night the empty field respawned. But instead of the Undermen two monsters named Dark Dwarf spawned. True to its name it looked like a dwarf, full blackened plate incased them from the neck down leaving their ashy gray faces with their pitch black beards exposed. Each of them wielded a giant two handed sword. They fit the name sake perfectly, except for the fact both were at least three meters tall and would tower over everyone their.

"Hmm aren't dwarves supposed to be short?" asked Eleraan in an amused voice while eyeing the two monsters.

"Yeah well Asians are supposed to be short too." Came Rolandox's smart remark to which Eleraan replied with a "Stuff it baldy."

"Check it out guys, two health bars their elites! Finally, some place new to farm." Slevin grinned as he pointed out the monsters double health bars.

Rolandox looked over at Asuna with a grin "I take it our test is to kill these?" When she nodded his grin just grew bigger "Perfect."

"Dib's on the ugly one." Was all Eleraan said while turning to face one of the identical monsters on the same half of the clearing he had soloed earlier.

"Tsk, Fine. Losers pay for repair costs." Was Rolandox's response with a grin before nodding to Slevin. "Come on, were going all out this time."

As the two man team charged their target the solo member rocketed towards his with his unique chaining of charge skills. He started peppering his target with throwing spikes as soon as it was in range and Asuna noticed a number of icons appear beneath the monsters health bars. She recognized the icon for bleed effect as well as poison but most of the others were unknown to her. Still the monsters health was dropping before he even reached it. He dashed passed it with a slashing charge before spinning to a stop launching another barrage of spikes even as he started his first attack.

Broken, she understood now why they keep saying that. Though she knew the one handed curved blades could attack with out delay at higher skill she had never actually seen it herself. A flurry of attacks was the best way she could describes it, his blade flashing different colors as it cycled through various sword skills faster than she could follow. With a spin he dodged the monsters first attack and even then launched off a barrage of spikes before flowing right into another furious assault. Watching him she found herself comparing him to Kirito but quickly realized their styles were nothing alike. Kirito's style was precise and conservative. No wasted movement or energy, only the most minimum effort was put forth whether it be the slightest shift in stance to avoid a blow or striking only when the perfect opening appeared. Considering he had to worry about sword skill delays it made sense. In an almost opposite style Eleraan never seemed to stop moving, each attack and dodge flowed endlessly into the next. Where Kirito's fighting style was structured and disciplined, even if he isn't she thought, Eleraan's was more like wild deadly dance.

She glanced away from him and the monsters rapidly plummetinghealth bar to the other to just in time to see Rolandox take half a step back and twist his body allowing the Dark Dwarf's sword thrust to skid off his shield past him. To her surprise he lashed out with his one handed axe for the first time but instead of striking the monster he used it like a hook to latch onto the swords vanguard. Pinning its large sword against his shield he twisted his entire body pulling the monster forward and even further off balance than before. At that moment Slevin charged in from the side in a full body shoulder slam managing to knock the already off balance monster over to slam hard onto its back. With out hesitating Rolandox leaped forward and slammed the bottom edge of his tower shield down on the wrist of the hand the dwarf used to hold its sword.

"Now!" His loud shout was answered by Slevin's almost primal roar as he leaped straight up his two handed hammer gripped in both hands and drawn all the way back over his head. The head of his hammer glowed crimson as it roared through the night sky to slam into the top edge of the tower shield with a resounding crash. Cracks spread through the stony ground beneath his shield and even spread through the shield itself from the thunderous strike. But more important the shield worked like a giant blade and sliced through the monsters wrist. A huge chunk of the monsters health dropped off and the red icon symbolizing loss of limb appeared beneath its diminished health bars. Staggering to its feet it took a wild swing at Rolandox with its stub of an arm; he almost casually blocked it before launching a powerful downward chop with his axe into the monsters chest. At almost the same moment Slevin recovered from his attacks delay swung his hammer down hard into the back of the monsters knee staggering it.

On its knees it now looked up into Rolandox's focused gaze as he brought his axe down into its face steadily dropping its health. Turning back to Eleraan she found his target flailing around wildly trying to catch its speedy attacker. If his earlier attacks had been awe inspiring but now with the others having closed the gap he seemed to take it to another level. Most players once they activated a skill allowed the system to carry them through the motion. Asuna achieved a higher attack speed than most by pushing her attacks through instead of waiting for the system to do it on its own. It seemed Eleraan used a similar method as it looked more like he was forcing the attacks through. Glancing between the two fights she bore witness to Eleraan's solo battle ending as his target shattered mere moments before the other two.

"I win!" Came his cry as he exploded through the cloud of polygon shards towards the others with a grin.

"Tsk, No way we won that one." Came Slevin's declaration of victory. "You better have been pinching your Col cause were going to need tons of repairs."

"Don't even try to lie, my target died first. I will admit it was surprisingly close this time though." He nodded.

"I'm telling you we won. Didn't we Rolandox?" Slevin turned towards his partner for confirmation.

"Eh, I don't know. El probably won again, broken bastard." Rolandox shrugged while Slevin remembering they weren't alone turned to Asuna.

"Ha tell him we won, don't let him lie!" Though he gave his guild mate a dirty look it was ruined by the half smile he wore.

"Um… Well I guess in truth he did kill his first." At Slevin's hurt and betrayed look she quickly added "but only by a little."

"It was two vs. one though." Eleraan pointed out sounding serious while within the shadows of his hood she could make out a wide grin.

"Tsk, just cause you're Asian. Everyone knows Asians are over powered in video games." Was Slevin's reply. Asuna gave a small cough as if to remind them she was Asian too. "Not that there is anything wrong with being Asian or overpowered." He was quick to add.

Looking them over she was about to ask how three non-Japanese had ended up in SAO when Slevin yelled out "Rematch!" Pointing to the freshly spawned monsters. Eleraan and Slevin seemed to share a look before turning to charge, one literally, towards the enemies.

Rolandox groaned "Hey my shields durability is almost shot!" Despite his complaint he followed after at full speed. The three engaged their respective targets with laughs leaving Asuna standing their alone. _They do remember why they were out here right? Sigh. Oh well it looks like they pass either way. _With a grin she found herself drawing her rapier and charging in to assist the two man team.

"Since your shield is low on durability let me see if I can't help even the odds!" Still grinning she launched into the first of many lightning speed Linier attacks.

Both sides fought bravely and in the end the results were…

**AN: This is something I had just been playing around with but told one of the guys I'd actually write down. So it got tossed up here for now. Since it was actually made with someone specific's request in mind and being a OC cast it might not actually enjoy it as much as a cannon one. But, ****If you did read this I hope you enjoyed.  
**  



	2. Chapter 2

**See bottom for AN and replies.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online.** **Reki Kawahara does!**

Rolandox took a deep breath to calm his nerves while standing outside the boss's room with the other tanks. Beside him two other shield users seemed just as nervous about their first boss battle. Of course, they were nervous over the thoughts of dying while Rolandox only worried about being able to match the better geared tanks. It wasn't that the reality of the death game hadn't settled in, it had. Each of his group knew that they could die at any time in this game. Of course they also knew they could die walking across the street or just about any time, after all everyone died. Still, the fact all three had been life long hard core gamers might have made the adjustment a bit easier. Its why when the rest of the players had been panicking over the situation on the first day the three had been doing a little dance about not having to cut their time in the world short to return back to America.

"Hell, I'm gonna die some day. Might aswell be doing something I love, right?" Slevin had laughed stating that as if he was joking though all three knew there was some truth in it.

Remembering that moment Rolandox glanced over to where the damage dealers or DPS were gathered to see Slevin chatting to a group of two handed users. From his animated appearance he was obviously preaching on the superiority of the two handed hammer and its many benefits. Off to the side he spotted Eleraan whose posture plainly spoke of how grumpy he was. Considering a certain chestnut haired girl had forced him to promise not to use his Hiding while everyone was gathering so they could keep track of everyone. Although if Rolandox had to guess it was more so she would stop having to jump when her shadow talked. Just thinking about how she keep eying her shadow every time his guildie disappeared made him chuckle. Up front the raid leader began pushing the door open while Rolandox tightened his grip on both of his shields at once.

Dual shields weren't technically a skill, but since shields were ambidextrous he had practice triggering shield skills with both arms. Normally, it would be counter productive trying to use two shields despite the huge increase in defenses. But according to the briefing they received yesterday there was no aggro table. Normally a "Tank", in this case a shield user, used a combination of high "Threat" skills to keep the target focused on them and not the normally "squishy" or lower defense damage dealers. With out a weapon he wouldn't normally be able to hold "Threat" using only the mostly defensive shield attacks.

As the doors open he charged in with the other five shield users leading the raid group in. The tanks had been split into two three men groups that would rotate out allowing the other three to heal up. From the briefing he understood that even with six it would be close, it seemed Sword Art Online suffered a shortage of tanks even more so than most games. The boss room was oval in shape with massive stone pillars that rose up into the darkness above. What lay beyond the pillars was lost in darkness even as the torches mounted to each pillar roared to life with crimson flames. From out of the darkness on the other side of the oval the boss skidded in. The Druegar's Crystal Golem looked like a giant five meter tall top made of blackened metal. Sticking out from the center was a huge emerald crystal that pulsed with an eerie light. As the tank group charged in five long wide blades shot out of it at varying heights and random positions. With a high pitched sound the golem began spinning with sickening speed before streaking towards the group.

The three veteran front liner tanks launched off their charge attacks in unison shields raised high they flew into the whirlwind of blades shoulder to shoulder. With a resounding crash and the sound of metal against metal they blocked one of the blades in an impressive display of teamwork. Digging their feet in they strained against the twisting force of the boss's single attack before finally skidding to a stop and holding it in place. Despite being the best geared tanks each of them had been knocked well into the yellow with that single attack and continued to drop steadily as they struggled to hold it back.

"That's crazy. Look how much damage they took with just one attack even splitting the damage three ways. They can't really expect us to do that too? Our gear isn't anywhere near as good as theirs." One of the wide eyed newly recruited tanks babbled off beside him.

"It won't be that bad, they had to stop it at full spin. We just go in to hold it in spot while they recover. We won't take nearly as much damage." Rolandox reassured his fellow tank.

"Look at their life drop. We will be dead in a second at that rate. I only started using a shield a few days ago so I could get a guild invite. Forget this, I'm not dying here." He was already back peddling away.

"Don't worry we will be fine, Come on they are counting on us. After all we are the hero's of the group." Rolandox grinned while talking lightly trying to calm the player down.

Shaking his head the player keep backpedaling as the call for "Switch" came out. Turning away from the cowardly player in disgust he charged towards the boss calling out to the other tank. "Let's go!"

Leading with his left shield he shot forward with the same shield charge he used the other night. Hearing his approach the other three tanks, all their life bars just dipping into the red, leapt away from the blade. Rolandox slammed into it just as it started moving again, locking his legs he tried not to panic as he felt himself still being pushed back and with growing speed. Looking for his partner out of the corner of his eyes he found himself alone as the blade pushed him back even faster. A surprised cry came up from the cluster of damage dealers as one of the blades closed in on them. Gritting his teeth and cursing all PUGs* he cocked back his right arm before slamming his other shield forward with the Shield Bash skill. It was an extremely low cool down knock back ability that caused no damage and normally was just used to build up some distance between the player and a mob. As soon as his right shield collided with the blade he cocked back his left arm using the same ability. Sweat ran down the side of his face from within his helmet as he focused on the difficult task of chaining together the skills with both arms.

As the blade slowed and finally stopped he let out the breath he had been holding now that he only had to focus on holding the blade stopped. Letting his eye flick up to his health bar he felt his heart skip a beat. It was already half way through the yellow and he had barely started, in the short time he had struggled to bring the blade to a stop the previous tank group wouldn't have been able to recover. He was going to have to let it go early. Glancing over to the mass of damage dealers he found Eleraan in a furious dance, to anyone else it would have been hard to tell but Rolandox had fought by their side since day one. He was pissed. Considering he could see Slevin's huge grin from here the boss must have extremely high defenses.

Eleraan's lighting fast attacks did only minimum damage but by stacking them up to a ridiculous amount in such a short time he was able to exceed most other damage dealer in total damage done. But high armor targets had a greater impact on the damage he could turn out than most weapon types. On the other side of the spectrum was Slevin with his two handed hammer, the weapon type with the highest passive armor penetration, infact the higher the targets armor the more effective his weapon became in comparison with others. This was countered with the slowest attack speed of all the various weapon types but right now watching the boss's health take sudden spiky drops in health with each of Slevin's resounding attacks it was definitely balancing out.

As his health approached the red he glanced over to the damage dealers again. Most of them were lightly armored with only a few wearing heavy armor like Slevin. Despite his light armor he was certain that with their ridiculous speed Eleraan would be fine escaping. But Slevin was a pure strength build with nothing put into agility. While this allowed him to wear his heavy plate and wield the massive hammer with ease it meant dodging was next to impossible. Even with the heavy plate he would take massive, maybe even fatal damage if he was caught unaware by the blade.

As his health dipped into the red he yelled out "Switch!" Glancing behind him he spotted the other three tanks their health bars still in the yellow sucking on a potion bottle like a drunk trying to get the last drop out of an empty bottle. "Disengage! Retreat! Get your squishy asses away from the boss if you don't wanna die!" Realizing there was no switch coming he yelled out to the DPS calling for a retreat. It seemed to take an eternity as he watched his already crimson health bar steadily drop before they started moving in retreat despite them actually responding rapidly. It seems despite his belief everyone had already realized what was going on. He watched them retreat refusing to release his block until the slowest DPS, Slevin, was clear despite his nearly depleted health.

Just as he was releasing the blade a shadow passed over head landing on the very blade he was braced against before leaping forward to land on the next highest blade. Using the varying blades like stair steps Eleraan landed on top of the top like boss just as Rolandox leapt away releasing the boss with barely a sliver of health left himself. As he began gulping down the foul tasting healing potion he watched Eleraan struggling to find his footing atop the spinning boss.

Slevin came to stand next to him watching the same thing. "Ugh, don't tell me he figured out some way to beat me in damage on the first fight I was ahead in ages." As if to answer his question their guild member seemed to finally find a way to stay stable long enough to launch an attack. The entire room suddenly filled with light as his first attack struck the golem's crystal core sending a huge shower of sparks.

"Ass couldn't let me win just once could he?" Slevin grumbled more out of habit than any real anger over the situation.

Chuckling Rolandox responded "Once we stop it spinning you can hop on up there too I'm sure. Want me to hum the Mario Brother's theme song while you're jumping?"

On top of the spinning boss Eleraan seemed to find his pace and his attacks were steadily picking up speed when suddenly the boss came to an impossibly fast stop. His feet moving in a frenzy as he struggled to maintain his balance when the boss launched into a reverse spin sending him tumbling off its top. As he fell Eleraan watched the blades beneath him speed up until they were nothing more than a blur. He could feel the wind from the blade when they suddenly came to a screeching halt. Rolandox, his health still in the yellow, slammed into the spinning blades beside the other three tanks bringing them to a stop in the nick of time.

Directly in front of Rolandox Eleraan dangled from the other side of the wide blade holding onto it with just hits left hand. "Hey, How you doing?" Despite the fact he had been only a moment from death he sounded calm, almost happy.

"Oh you know, risking my life to save an idiot from certain doom. You know just the regular." Shaking his head with a small grin Rolandox felt the extreme tension he had felt ease out.

Eleraan opened his mouth as if to reply when the entire boss jerked sideways. Slevin had rushed in to block with the others but since all his points were in strength had lagged behind finally caught up to shoulder slam right into the boss's main body. With his shear size and massive strength he had actually managed to push the giant boss a good foot back. Rolandox and Eleraan turned away from the sight of Slevin straining against the boss to looked at one another with a slowly spreading grin that stated both had the same idea.

"Hey slacker, your late! I woulda been minced meat already!" Came Eleraan's taunting reply to his friends limited speed stat.

"Screw you! See if I try and help you again!" Despite his harsh reply he had a relieved look on his face. Eleraan gave his friend a thankful nod which was all that was needed to pass his true feelings to his long term friend.

"Anyways, I think we might actually have a use for that over bloated strength stat of yours." Eleraan grinned at Slevin's questioning look.

**[]**

Rolandox couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed as he watched from the side lines. Lead by Slevin the gathered raid had managed to push the boss across the room while the few remaining tanks held the bosses blades in check. In the end that had managed to wedge one of the rooms pillars between two of its blades preventing it from spinning in either direction. When one raid member had mentioned it was almost like cheating Eleraan had been quick to point an accusing finger at them. "Its not cheating, its creative use of game mechanics!"

Slevin had added in "And my awesome strength stat!" he flexed while Eleraan rolled his eyes but was unable to argue.

Rolandox looked up to his two guild members occupying some of the limited space on top of the boss as they worked on its weak spot, the crystal core. It looked like the two were locked in a fierce battle probably over which was better, speed or strength. Eleraan's blade whipped around sending a continuous shower of sparks flying over head while each of Slevin's resounding blows sent cracks and fissures spreading through the crystal. One of the three veteran tanks walked over to him giving him a friendly nod. "Kinda depressing them not needing us now to finish."

Laughing some Rolandox nodded "Yeah leave it to mine to break a fight." Despite his laugh his reply carried over the pride he felt in there small group. It seems his earlier nervousness over whether or not their small group would be able to pull their weight had been foolish.

"You guys sure know how to make an entrance! Those two monsters for damage dealers and a tank capable of holding the boss by himself like that has got people already talking." The man gave a wide grin and a friendly laugh. "By the way my name is Lind of the Divine Dragon Alliance you're the guild leader right?"

Rolandox nodded doing its best to keep all the compliments from going to his head "Yeah, I'm the sucker that got stuck with the title. Not that it really matters."

"Well you guys wouldn't be interested in a merger would ya? There are benefits to being in a larger guild." Lind still held his friendly smile but his posture had changed giving off a more aggressive feel.

"Ahh." Glancing over to the others and there wild competition that had caused more than one person to stop their own attacks to watch slowly turning the tense boss fight into something akin a holiday event with even people cheering on their chosen style. "I'd have to talk it over with the guys but I don't think we will be looking for a new home anytime soon." For a moment he imagined how another guild would feel with a guild member who spent almost all their time using the hide skill and chuckled.

Lind's smile had slipped several notches but he still offered his hand "Well Rolandox, right?" Rolandox nodded while accepting his hand shake "If you change your mind let us know, we would hate for you to end up getting tricked into joining one of these other guilds."

Giving Lind a smile he nodded "Don't worry; I don't think that will happen. Were a pretty self reliant group."

Lind just nodded before leaving Rolandox to watch as Eleraan and Slevin struck the boss at almost the same time competing for the last attack. As the boss shattered beneath them the two dropped with Slevin landing on his feet with a thunderous impact and Eleraan touching down silently beside him. It was hard to tell which one had landed the final attack but he was certain he would find out soon enough as the two would probably be arguing over it til the next boss fight. Watching them his two companions seeming more animated than they had in floors he couldn't help but be happy with their decision to join the front lines.

**[]**

The after party was unlike anything they had been part of within the game before. With merchants, lower level guild members, and countless other players who had nothing to do with the front line crammed into the inn of the newly opened thirty first floor celebrating. It was so packed that even Eleraan with his high level hiding skill couldn't manage to disappear and was currently being mobbed with questions from an entire swarm of players on his fighting style looking extremely uncomfortable. Slevin was currently strutting around with six female players sitting on his shoulders and out stretched biceps showing off his "Legendary" strength stat.

Rolandox sipped his glass of sweet mead and chuckled at the actions of his friends when someone poked him in the side. Glancing down he found Asuna grinning up at him "So, how did you all enjoy your first boss fight?"

Smiling down at the girl "We had a blast! Can't wait for the next one. We are invited to the next one right?"

Giving a lithe laugh Asuna shook her head "After the show you three put on you've got half the front line guilds trying to figure out how to recruit you all."

Chuckling Rolandox nodded "Ya Lind from the Divine Dragon Alliance already asked us to merge into their guild back while the fight was still going on."

For a moment Asuna's brow knitted but just as fast it disappeared "Ahh yes the DDA is one of the top guilds. That said nearly all of the front line guilds would be happy for you to join if your interested, the Knights of the Blood Oath amongst them. We have been steadily making a name for ourselves."

Rolandox nodded "Ya I heard your already in running with the DDA for top guild. Not bad considering the guild was only formed a few floors ago."

Asuna looked a bit shocked "Done some research on us?" Grinning she added "Looking to join maybe?"

Smiling Rolandox replied "Naw, I don't think we would fit in another guild very well… well not all of us. We just wanted to know who was who is all."

Asuna nodded "Well you and your guildies enjoy the party, and welcome to the front lines." With that she slipped back into the crowd making her way over towards a silver haired man in crimson and white plate armor that seemed to have been a missing member of the KOB raid group.

Sipping his mead again he found Slevin engaged in a one sided arm wrestling match with one of the other two handed fighters from earlier and spotted Eleraan actually appearing to be answering a few of the questions though he continued to inch his way towards the exit. _This was definitely a good idea._

**_AN: _I use a lot of game speak so tried to explain most of it. If I use something that didn't make sense feel free to ask me I'll explain. Sorry!  
**

**PUG* This one woulda taken a lot of explaining and broken the flow. PUG stands for Pick Up Group, Its when random people get together for a short amount of time to fight together unlike say Eleraan, Crukash, and Slevin who are a long term set group. In the gaming world PUG is pretty much a dirty word because for every one skilled team player you find you will find ten lazy, unskilled, caustic personalty people. PUGs are half the reason I am normally a solo player, the other being that I believe grouping is less efficient. **

**Anyways, Hope anyone reading this enjoyed. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online.** **Reki Kawahara does!**

Gravel crunched beneath his heavy plate boots as Slevin stomped across the rocky terrain. He was currently on the seventeenth floor at the Shale Rock Mine. With the last level the group had acquired a spare skill slot each that wasn't needed for any primary combat skills. After much debate they decided they would take up crafting. Normally a combat oriented player wouldn't bother taking up crafting, it took up a number of skill slots that they couldn't afford. But splitting the duties three ways they could work as a team doing a single crafting skill. After a bit of debate they decided on Weapon Smiting since it was one of the few skills all three could benefit from. Eleraan had won out on being the actual smith while Rolandox would be the one with the refining skill Smelting leaving Slevin with the worse of the three as far as he was concerned, Mining. Thus he found himself trudging along the mid level floor mine preparing to gather up massive amounts of raw ore.

He had been tricked, as far as he was concerned, into taking the gathering role by being lead to believe his massive strength would allow him to crush rocks and thus gather ore faster. As it turns out mining wasn't affected by strength at all, it was a set number of strikes from a pick axe based on the resources level. Still with his higher strength he could at least carry more of the ore in a single trip. He had just spotted a nice wide ore vein and was preparing to start his arduous task when a shrill scream echoed across the mine bouncing off stone. After a moments debate he turned and with a thunderous charge headed towards the source of the scream. Coming to the edge of a shallow slope he spotted a player cornered by a towering monster that looked to be made of rough stones magically attached into a humanoid form. An Ore Golem was a random spawn that would appear when mining ore, imagine that. Possessing a double health bar, extremely high defense value, and using high damage crushing attacks they were a danger even to players many levels over the floor they spawned on. Of course, they were one of the slowest monster types in the game so most people simply avoided them.

But for what ever reason the girl cornered made no move to flee. "Get out of there! Just run away it's slow!" The girl looked at him with pleading blue eyes and said something that was lost in the golem's roar, a sound like an avalanche of stone crushing against each other. Gritting his teeth and cursing noobs he charged down the slope, sliding more than running. Raising its giant stone arm the monster prepared to crush the player still standing before it. _Damn it, If only I were faster. Where is that speedy asshole when I actually need him? _Growling in frustration at his own limitations and realizing that he had more or less agreed that his friend would have been able to do something he with his chosen and heavily defended style couldn't. _No, there is always a way. I don't need to be faster, I just need to stop it from attacking. _ Drawing his massive two handed hammer he prepared to use a truly last ditch skill.

With one final scream the girl squeezed her eyes shut bracing for the attack she was certain would crush her like a bug. The thunderous impact of the blow sounded out with enough force to vibrate the air in her lungs. Instead of the You are dead message she had expected there was a groaning sound like two massive stones sliding against each other. Opening her eyes she found the golem leaning to the side trying to regain its balance and a massive two handed hammer lying on the ground beside them. Looking up she saw a divot in its raised arm with cracks spreading outward from what she guessed was the impact site. The golem turned away from her no longer worried with the defenseless target before it and started a thundering charge towards her rescuer.

_Well, that got its attention. _Slevin gave a lope sided grin at the success of his Hammer Throw ability. It was a last ditch attack he rarely used because once he tossed his hammer he would need to retrieve it or take time to equip another weapon. Normally, he carried a spare weapon just in case. But since he was heading down to a lower level to mine with out any intention of fighting he had emptied out his entire inventory to make room for more ore. As the two opponents continued there thunderous charge towards one another Slevin glared at the Ore Golem deciding that being forced to use his Hammer Throw was the last straw.

"Don't look so cocky, you're not the first rock I've had to break with my bare hands!" as if to prove the statement his right hand,clenched tightly into a fist, took on a crimson glow. As the two charging opponentscollidedthe golem swung down trying to crush the slightly smaller fighter. Slevin reached up with his left hand and caught the attack; normally blocking an attack unarmed would have been a foolish move. But the golem's attack was classified as unarmed and since he possessed the Martial Arts skill he was allowed to block other unarmed attacks in a contest of strength. Stone shattered beneath his armored feet but even one handed Slevin won such a contest against the foot taller golem. With a taunting grin he swung his arm out hard. The right hook, angled high to strike the taller monster, struck hard with a crushing sound sending a spray of tiny stone shards flying free. Twisting his body he followed up with a left handed upper cut that flowed right into a shoulder slam that he used to push past the battered golem. Rushing forward he skidded to a stop leaning down to scoop up his hammer with a triumphant grin that fell away as he turned to find the golem right on top of him. _Even you are faster than me? Are you trying to mock me!_ With that thought he gripped his hammer with both hands and gave a mighty upward swing powered by his anger. The blow caught the monster on the chin snapping its head back and causing it to lean back despite the attack not being a Skill.

His hammer took on an emerald glow as he activated the multi hit Pummel skill. Once, twice, then a third time his hammer crashed down into the behemoth's chest with enough force to knock it to the ground. A mocking grin spread across Slevin's face as he stared down at the prone golem. _Oh you just wait til this skill delay is over. I got something for you! _The golem was just starting to recover when his skill delay ended and he activated the Pummel skill a second time. But since his target was prone it gained a bonus becoming the Rain of Blows attack. Once, twice, and again a third time the blows struck with resounding force sending new cracks and fissures through the monsters body. But instead of the attack ending there Slevin raised his hammer high over head and held it as the hammer's head took on an ever brighter crimson glow. The final blow was a charged attack, the longer he held it the more powerful it would become.

He waited until the monster was half way done pushing itself up into a sitting position to release his attack. As his hammer arced down with sickening speed it slammed the golem back down to the ground with enough force to knock the nearby girl off her feet. As dust billowed out from around the prone golem it twisted its head letting out a pained cry like a handful of gravel being crushed together before shattering into sparkling polygon fragments.

Rolling his shoulders before letting his hammer come to rest on them he grinned "Ahh, I feel much better now. Just what I needed a nice punching bag."

"Um…" At the sound of another's voice Slevin remembered the reason he had charge in on the golem in the first place. Turning around to face the girl,who still hadn't moved from the spot she started at, she seemed to shrink back a bit within his shadow "Thank you." Was her response after a moment of shyness before looking up at him. At first glance the word plain came to mind, still he found himself looking her over more out of a habit of being a man than any real desire. She was neither skinny nor fat but simply average. Her blonde hair was cut not too short but definitely not long. Her outfit was odd for a girl within SAO in his opinion, with girls normally choosing one extreme or the other. Either showing off everything or hiding under some hooded cloak. Instead, she wore what he would consider pants and a blouse in the real world. Her face speckled with a few freckles seemed to round out the average package. His first impression of her seemed correct, that said with the limited number of female players he couldn't help but stare a little.

Still he didn't let the fact that she was one of a limited number of girls go to his head "Ugh! Why didn't you run? You could have been killed." He leaned forward towering over her with one eyebrow cocked waiting for her response.

What he got wasn't what he expected. She laughed. At his frown she waved her hand dismissively "Sorry, it's just normally guys I meet are so worried about impressing me or flirting I never expected you to scold me."

He shrugged "Sorry all that kinda stuff isn't my style. I call it how it is and you should have run, what would you have done if I hadn't been here."

"I couldn't run." At his scowl she explained "I wasn't paying attention to my inventory and mined well past my maximum weight. Since I have the "Encumbered" debuff I can't move. When the monster appeared I panicked and didn't have time to discard the extra ore from my inventory." He was still leaning over her frowning when she leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you for saving me. Even if you did scold a scared girl instead of comforting her." She grinned and gave a small giggle at his shocked expression. "Since you're here in a mine I am going to go out on a limb and say you were here to do some mining. Since I have to discard it anyways how about I give you the extra ore I mined as a reward."

"Sure that would be great!" He did his best to recover from the curve balls the strange girl kept throwing at him. As she manipulated her screen preparing the trade he realized he hadn't closed out the battle results screen. Glancing over it before he closed it he paused. While the experience gained was miniscule due to the huge level gap the loot caught his eye. He had gained a lot of raw ore for defeating that monster. That alone looked to have shaved hours off his mining. "Whoa nice. You get a ton of ore for killing those golems. Hopefully I get a few more of them!"

She giggled as she finished manipulating her inventory screen. "You're an odd one. Most miners pray not to get a golem spawn." With a final flourish she clicked the trade menu causing a menu to appear before Slevin.

He hoped his eyes didn't bulge out too much as he did his best to ask in a normal voice "This is all "Extra" ore?" The trade menu currently offered up more ore than he had expected, a lot more as in enough combined with the ore golem to put even his inventory at its limit.

Looking more than a little embarrassed she answered "I've been out here most of the day mining. I really wasn't paying attention at all; I had some… other things on my mind."

As he happily clicked the accept button on the trade menu he couldn't help but state "I'm not surprised your over the weight limit with all this. Even with my stats I'm at my weight limit already and I haven't even equipped my pickaxe yet!" He gave a bit of a chuckle.

Tilting her head to the side she gave him a funny look "You're not going to tell me you don't have an ore sack?"

Frowning down at her he asked "Ore sack?"

Chuckling she couldn't help but ask "Your just starting out mining aren't you?" She raised her hand to stop him from answering "No don't bother; the look on your face says it all. An ore sack is a reward from a quest on the third floor. All ore put in it is reduced in weight by seventy percent. The quest is silly easy so pretty much everyone who mines gets one."

At his flustered look she reached out to take his hand "Come on, I'll show you how to do the quest it won't take very long." She stopped still holding his hand and laughed "I just realized. I don't even know your name."

Giving a wide grin he chuckled too "Oops, guess I never introduced myself. My name's Slevin, of the guild Nephilim."

Smiling she gave his hand a slight squeeze "Nice to meet you Slevin, My name is Carah of the Divine Dragon Alliance"


End file.
